Chandigarh: The Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab on Saturday directed registration of a case against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal and SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal for allegedly violating the model code of conduct in Mohali. The Chief Electoral Officer’s directions came after AAP and SAD complained against each other for posting videos on social media on the eve of polling.
The AAP alleged that during the “closing period” of the election campaign, Badal has posted a video on his Facebook page with an intention to mislead voters and influence them in an unwanted manner. The party accused it of violating Section-126 of the Representation of the People Act. SAD leader and advocate Arshdeep Singh Kler, in a complaint to the Election Commission, objected to a purported video uploaded on social media by AAP, saying “it continues to malign the image of SAD and other parties among the general public”. Has been done.”
In a letter to the Mohali District Electoral Officer and SSP, the Punjab Chief Electoral Officer’s office said that due to the model code of conduct that came into force from January 8, “no party has any objectionable video on the prevalent internet handle to target a particular leader”. could put it.” The office said the video clip has not received approval from the state-level MSMC (Media Certification and Monitoring Committee).
The office said that it came to its notice on February 18 that the video being circulated on the Internet platform was “a gross violation of Rule 4.4.2 (b) of the Do Not Do Rules under the Model Code of Conduct”. “In view of the above facts, you are requested to register an FIR as per the legal provisions,” the letter said.
Meanwhile, on the complaint of AAP, Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said, “The public relations team of CEO’s office has informed that the video content still exists on Sukhbir Singh Badal’s Facebook page under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.” 126(b)(1) which is contained in Chapter 8.3.1 of the Model Code of Conduct Rules.
In the letter, he requested the Mohali administration and police to take cognizance of the above facts and take legal action. It is noteworthy that polling for the 117-member Punjab Assembly will be held on February 20 and the results will be declared on March 10.